Swaziland has child trafficking problem

According to a paper presented by University of Swaziland Lecturer Maxine Langwenya last week, child trafficking is widespread in the country and there is no law to prevent it. Many of the children are sold into South Africa as child prostitutes, or forced to work on farms, but others are sold as far away as India. Swaziland has not ratified the UN Palermo Protocol against human trafficking and needs to do much more to prevent this crime. Before this report, it was thought (in the US Trafficking in Persons report 2006), that a small number of children were being trafficked into exploitation from the country. Swaziland needs to enact clear anti-trafficking legislation, provide protection for victims and in particular for the country’s 70,000 AIDS orphans.
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